Old Things

A couple years ago, when the Pope was visiting the US, I bought a t-shirt at the Newseum gift store with a quote of his: “God is not afraid of new things.”

One day, I was wearing the t-shirt while pushing the stroller and walking the dog on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As we waited for a walk sign to cross the street, an elderly gentleman saw the quote and said to me, “What about old things?”

I kind of laughed, the sign changed, and we went our separate ways.

His question has stuck with me, though. Not being afraid of new things portrays an image of being forward-thinking, optimistic, ready to rock ‘n roll with the times. But the question from the man — who may have seen less-than-good times — was valid and timely.

How fearful is God (and, by extension, ourselves) of old things? Old things, like historical thoughts that have turned into terrible deeds. Things that have been around for a long, long, time. When the news is a people of authority and unstable followers thinking very old thoughts and telling people to being afraid of things they didn’t used to fear, I hear the gentleman’s question, again: “What about old things?”

On the Upper East Side, we lived across the street from an Islamic center. I always found the Friday call to prayer vaguely relaxing. The location made me nervous because of mentally unstable people, not the faithful. Our girls are in a great Jewish Community Center preschool they love. The location makes me nervous because of mentally unstable people, not the faithful.

Maybe that is what the man meant: sometimes new worries are old things.